Five Gold Stars

 

Samuel Augustus Maverick was born in South Carolina in 1803. Because he was christened with his father’s name, his family called him “Gus.” At Yale University, he was known as “Sam.” Sam dabbled in law and in politics. He owned a gold mine and a plantation, then he bought a lot of land in and around San Antonio, Texas. Sam was involved in the siege of the Alamo, and he was one of the signers of the Texas Declaration of Independence. Sam served in the legislature, as Bexar County Chief Justice, and Mayor of San Antonio. He refused to brand his cattle. He said he didn’t want to inflict pain on the animals, but his neighbors believed he just wanted to collect and claim any unbranded cattle as his own. Because of Sam, the word Maverick – meaning a person with a stubborn streak of independence, and also any wild, unbranded range animal – became a part of the English language.